It's Time to Speak Up and Speak Out
BCNU is calling on all members to press the provincial government for a renewed commitment to address the systemic health system challenges BC?s nurses are facing today.
Nurses' current workload is unsustainable and unsafe. Members regularly contact the union to share their distress over their inability to provide appropriate patient care under the current working conditions. There is no question that much-needed changes are needed which would benefit all patients and improve care delivery to British Columbians.
The government also needs to engage point-of-care nurses in a plan that effectively addresses the nursing shortage by retaining and recruiting the nurses BC needs now and in the future. According to the government's own 2019 Labour Market Outlook, more than 23,000 additional nurses will be needed by 2029 to staff BC?s health-care system. But today, nearly 10 percent of new nurse graduates in BC migrate to other provinces.
A nursing health human resources plan is desperately needed to improve health-care system's staffing and safety protocols. The BC government must find ways to keep the nurses we have and encourage new grads to stay. It can start by improving working conditions now for exhausted nursing staff and seriously addressing the unacceptable violence nurses face every day.
Resilient Together
BCNU's annual convention, held June 1-3, focused on the themes of resiliency and solidarity: resiliency shown by nurses in the face of the COVID-19 public health emergency, and the strength in solidarity as the union approaches its 40-year anniversary.
Hundreds of nurse activists in attendance heard about the work of the union during the pandemic, including the efforts of BCNU's regional lobby coordinators, who began meeting with MLAs in May to discuss workload, staffing and other top concerns affecting nurses and patients in their ridings.
Convention delegates boosted the lobby coordinators' work by sending a personal email to their MLA using a new email template.
Now, it is time for all members to amplify this message and do the same!
Call to Action
- Visit the "Speak Up and Speak Out" page on the BCNU website.
- Select your MLA from a drop-down list.
- Type directly into the letter template provided and share how key issues, such as the urgent nurse shortage or workplace risks to nurse safety, are affecting you.
- Enter your details and click "submit".